Chatting to the chooks

Now, purely as a matter of good husbandry you understand, I like to talk to my ladies flock. It reassures them that all is well and they're safe. Especially at night when I go up after dark to close up the coop and in the morning when I open it up again.Usually as dusk approaches and the fox risk goes up, I get them locked into the secure run and when it goes dark they head up the stairs to bed.Now, unknown to me, my neighbour had come and followed me up to the run. "OK girls, I'll be up later to sing you the night night song" I said as I latched the run door. Turned round to my neighbour stifling a giggle and muttering about "Just livestock, eh?"Oops!

I only have four, and I talk to mine, too. I can tell which ones have laid, and I always make a point of thanking each of them personally for their egg . Daft, I know, but it must be such hard work to lay an egg, that it deserves some acknowledgement. They all have characters, and are really no different to other pets, so why not chat to them?

I always talked to our chook girls & always have a chat with my daughters current 5 girls. The first Christmas we had the chickens, I went down Christmas morning to let them out, made a cup of tea & took it back to hubby in bed. When I got in he asked”& what did the chickens say when you wished then Merry Christmas? “. He knows me too well.lol

OK - I admit to chatting to Ben the Rat who lived on the compost heaps on the lotty. I swear he (or she) knew I meant him no harm and would appear when I was down by them.

However.. being caught chatting to the chooks by my neighbour didn't enhance my reputation. I usually give them a chorus of "Good night, ladies" from Lou Reed's Transformer. When I go up to close the pop-hole they start making a bit of noise when I crunch on the gravel path but if I speak or sing that turns to a contented rosey which goes down when I shut the door and open the nestbox ready for the morning.

If it's been dark for an hour they're fast off though so I just quietly tell them not to worry.

If I'm late opening up I get grumbled at - honestly they sound really disgruntled.

Talk to mine all the time, get more sense and less moaning about stuff I was supposed to do (I can say it as u know who anit on here), she once filmed me talking and playing with chuckles in the garden and then posted it on facebook!

Logged

Punk isn't dead...it's underground where it belongs. If it comes to the surface it's no longer punk...it's Green Day!

My words to the hens usually consists of "B***er off you daft birds" as they try to trip me up or get in the way of whatever I'm doing. I don't know about curiosity killing the cat, it's come very close to killing the chickens!